Diamondbacks eliminated from postseason contention after Phillies clinch final spot

SAN DIEGO — Arizona Diamondbacks players and coaches looked up at the out-of-town scoreboard at Petco Park on Sunday and saw their fate: The D-backs will not play postseason baseball for the third straight season after their 2023 World Series appearance.

The D-backs needed to beat the San Diego Padres AND have the Philadelphia Phillies lose to the Tampa Bay Rays on the final day of the regular season.

The Phillies started their game about 40 minutes before the Diamondbacks, as it was moved up to beat incoming weather. Right around first pitch in San Diego, Philadelphia took a 4-0 lead in a 7-3 win.

The Phillies will head to Atlanta to open the National League Wild Card Series on Tuesday, while the Diamondbacks will head home, entering yet another offseason after narrowly missing the postseason.

Deja vu Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks have been alive until the final three days of the regular season for four straight years, sneaking into the 2023 postseason and falling short via tiebreaker in 2024, getting eliminated in Game 160 in 2025 and suffering the same fate in Game 162 in 2026.

Arizona pushed hard to the finish by winning six of its last seven games entering Sunday, snapping a six-game winning streak with a bullpen game loss on Saturday.

Ultimately, the Diamondbacks dug too deep of a hole by losing back-to-back home series to the Texas Rangers and Miami Marlins during their last homestand, creating distance between them and the NL Wild Card teams that was always going to be difficult, if not miraculous, to make up.

The D-backs had a slim window to control their own destiny, too, had they won on Saturday after the Phillies lost.

The NL Wild Card race has fluctuated over the years.

It took 84 wins to crack the bracket in 2023, 89 (plus tiebreakers) in 2024 and only 83 last season. This year, 89 wins was the minimum again in the NL — the D-backs would actually be winning the AL Central or AL West.

What comes next for Diamondbacks, Torey Lovullo?

Without playoffs for the third straight season, the club has major questions to answer both regarding its leadership and roster.

At the forefront, what will happen with longtime manager Torey Lovullo, whose contract is up?

D-backs president and CEO Derrick Hall told Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta on Thursday that this may have been Lovullo’s best season given the adversity Arizona faced and the team’s competitiveness up until the very end.

The D-backs have six winning seasons in Lovullo’s decade at the helm but only two playoff berths.

• How much of this season’s shortcoming lands on Lovullo versus a front office that assembled a flawed roster?
• How much would a managerial switch be change for change’s sake, or a feeling that there simply needs to be a new voice after 10 seasons?
• Would Lovullo want to return if he is not offered a multi-year contract?
• Is the Lovullo decision tied for Ketel Marte?

The D-backs listened to trade offers for Marte last offseason, but they held onto their three-time All-Star.

Since then, Marte gained a no-trade clause with 10-5 rights and left the team hanging during an important part of the season for the fourth straight year, third without permission. His absence at Fenway Park was a distraction, and the team lost its next two games uncompetitively. Arizona’s leverage to potentially move on has vanished, so what is the path forward between the franchise and one of the most accomplished players in its history?

There is also a lockout likely coming once the collective bargaining agreement expires in December that will shape the entire offseason and potentially the number of games played next season.

The D-backs still have a lease extension to agree to in order to move ahead with Chase Field renovation projects.

There is a lot to focus on without a playoff run to turn attention to.

How did the Diamondbacks’ roster shape up?

The 2026 Diamondbacks never quite found enough consistency at the plate despite standout seasons from Gabriel Moreno and newcomer Nolan Arenado. Marte, Corbin Carroll and Geraldo Perdomo each took a step back from their 2025 production, which was difficult to overcome for a lineup that lacked reliable power — although Perdomo was an on-base machine in September. The offense entered Sunday 10th in MLB in scoring, although a lot of the heavy lifting had been done during their final push to the playoffs.

Eduardo Rodriguez was a revelation in Year 3 of his contract with Arizona, but the starting rotation was hurt by substandard seasons from Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, along with injuries. Ace Corbin Burnes did not hit his All-Star break target to return from Tommy John surgery, as he only made three starts this season and was not available for a critical game on Saturday.

A shame of this team missing the postseason is that Arizona rosters a playoff-caliber bullpen. Juan Morillo and Brandyn Garcia were terrific young hurlers in the back end of the bullpen, and Justin Martinez has been electric since he came back from Tommy John surgery in August. Those three will make up a nasty core for the bullpen moving forward.

A left-handed power bat — ideally a first baseman — and pitching depth appear to be the clear needs for this roster entering the offseason. Pitchers Michael Soroka, Zac Gallen, Kevin Ginkel and Jonathan Loaisiga are among the notable free agents.

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